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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28639884">Never Get Enough Of This</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/BigScaryDinos/pseuds/BigScaryDinos'>BigScaryDinos</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Haunting of Bly Manor (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Future, Domestic Fluff, Embarrassment, Engagement, F/F, Falling In Love, Fluff, I Will Go Down With This Ship, No Plot/Plotless, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, Short One Shot, Slice of Life, True Love</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 12:28:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,727</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28639884</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/BigScaryDinos/pseuds/BigScaryDinos</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>2017  - Jamie and Dani go out to eat. Jamie is up to her usual tricks and Dani wants no part of it. </p>
<p>AU where it's 2017 and everybody is happy. All fluff.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dani Clayton &amp; Jamie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>34</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Never Get Enough Of This</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>-2017-</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Normally Dani was quiet; showing her emotions only through the smallest facial changes - but today she shot daggers into Jamie’s face. Her eyes seemed to glow red, the anger palpable. Her hands sat inside her lap, twisting each other into a white mess against the black silk of her dress. It should have been the first red flag when Jamie had suggested this venue in particular. Nothing good came from places requiring reservations and dress codes. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t you do it.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Jamie smiled, a wicked grin gracing her face. In Dani’s eyes the florist always looked the same as she had the day they had moved in together, but on nights like tonight everyone around the two could see the youth still captured inside her features. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t do what?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You know what.” Dani said, her voice low while pulling her hands up to find a distraction for the nervousness that threatened to spill out, before settling on the glass in front of her. She sipped on the remains of her red wine staring across the table. “Don’t do it.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t have any idea what you are talking about.” Jamie said, her own voice low to match her partner.  The chaos of the restaurant kicked up around the two, a bubble inside a storm of noise. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Swear to god, if you do it again I’m leaving you. For real.” Dani frowns, then shakes her head as if Jamie had fought back. “That’s not fair. I love you. I just. Please don’t.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Jamie only lets out a musical laugh. IThey’ve been closing the gap on thirty years together, thirty magical years of mini moments laced inside a shared life. Hands interlocked inside jacket pockets while they walked the streets at night. Bad movie nights where they fall asleep under a blanket on the floor in front of the TV.  Kisses peppered on sweaty brows. Slow dancing at weddings for all the friends and family they gather inside the rolling stone that consists of the two of them. Four years of marital bliss of course tacked on at the end, but that doesn’t make nights like this any less exciting. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re going to have to tell me exactly what you don’t want me doing? Ordering desert?” Jamie plays with the hair brushing her shoulders long enough to hope Dani catches the trick - a look and find photo set inside animated real life. Which of these things is not like the other. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Look closely, what changed? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Dani looks without seeing and Jamie’s smile doesn’t stop. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You know exactly what I’m talking about. I didn’t like it last time you did it. Or any of the times before that.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Jamie wraps a thin brown strand around her ring finger waiting for the moment to catch. Dani is smarter than this, but her panic dulls her for a second. Seconds tick by inside an hourglass, sand slipping through fingers. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s been such a nice night. Don’t.” Her exasperation is too much and Jamie for a second wants to take it all back; but she doesn’t. This is her favorite thing to do, seeing Dani’s eyes always open in such surprise, her mouth forming the perfect pout. It’s not as good as the first time, but it’s not half bad the tenth time around either. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Poppet, it’s a beautiful night. Perfection.” The old name sticks even after all these years. Even after Dani has become a full time house wife and part time florist. Jamie sips her own glass of wine and wonders who will be the first person to clap tonight. Sometimes it’s the servers she’s warned in advance when the love of her life ducked into the bathroom before the main course. Sometimes it’s the people closest to them, sitting just a table away. Sometimes it’s a couple far in the back watching and hoping it’ll be them one day or remembering their own engagement.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I know.” Dani’s eyes narrow, trying to see what’s missing or off about Jamie. She understand there is something there, but it’s not adding up. Trying to catch the clues - it’s too difficult. She’s allowed herself too much to drink, not enough to feel anything unlike herself, but enough to feel slowed. The clinking of glasses around them, waiters offering menus, forks to ceramic plates. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Once Dani spots the abnormality her face alters so slightly that an untrained eye wouldn’t spot it. Her mouth opens only slightly, a glimpse of the white teeth tucked behind her pink lips. She inhales without exhaling. The missing ring. All of Jamie’s fingers are bare. Her bland gold band is missing, tucked away safely inside a drawer inside a bedroom inside a house that belongs to the two of them. This conspiracy dates back to before this moment, all the way back to getting ready. That’s how long Jamie knew she would pull this again. For the tenth time. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The second the con is realized is the second Jamie springs into action. This has always been the plan. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t.” Dani whispers. Jamie hears it but ignores it. Her voice raises well past it’s normal limit - not yelling but announcing to all those who can hear. It commands attention. It’s a grand </span>
  <em>
    <span>look over here. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Danielle Clayton,” She begins, her smile growing until it’s the sort that overtakes her face. Dani’s lips press together, her fingers still clutching the stem of a nearly empty wine glass. Jamie wonders what would happen if it snapped off under the stress. “I have loved you since I first saw you tromp on my flowers. I have never known a more resilient, beautiful creature than you.” These words always change. Each and every time it’s a new way, a new phrase. Dani listens without listening, her face shades to the color of a strawberry. “I love you Danielle Clayton. With all my heart.” Now people are looking, it seems the sound has been turned down to nearly a muted volume inside the restaurant except for the bubble they were in. It expands to encompass everyone in a five mile radius. Dani mouths the word </span>
  <em>
    <span>why </span>
  </em>
  <span>but she already has done this enough to know why. “I wish I could spend a million lifetimes with you. I wish I could marry you ten times over.” Even now as Jamie pulls the same engagement ring that normally sits tucked safe away at home from her pocket, inching herself from her chair to her knees in front of Dani’s chair. The joints pop and creak but are worth it. Neither woman is as young as they once were. “Will you marry me, Danielle Clayton?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The whole world is quiet. Nobody makes a sound, it seems even the chef in the back has turned off the stove tops to listen in. A million pairs of eyes burn into the two. Jamie holds the ring, a single karrot set inside white gold out before her like a sacrifice. It’s almost too hard not to laugh, unlike the first time which was filled to the brim with shaking knees and slurred speech. It must be dragging on far too long before a man three tables from them speaks up. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, will you?” Everyone waits, the whole world stilling to it’s stop. Dani opens her mouth, then shuts it again. Her neck a matching shade of red, her chest slowly growing to mimic her flush.  She releases a shaky inhale. Her answer isn’t audible to the people in the back, but it doesn’t matter. She nods once. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I...Yes.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The applause starts at all once, a round that thunders from the back of the kitchen up to the table, engulfing the two. Somebody starts a chant, </span>
  <em>
    <span>kiss, kiss, kiss. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Jamie stands, her knees creaking as she cups the curve of a face still seated below her. The lips catch together, the cheers get louder. Even Dani’s lips feel like they’re on fire. Jamie slips the well used engagement ring over the bump of the knuckle on Dani’s finger. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I love you.” She smiles, the waiter brings champagne inside thin flutes, golden and bubbling. They knew, more times than not they know what’s going to come. Jamie knows her trick well enough to know where the hitches may happen. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I love you too.” Dani replies, her face still an unnatural shade, even as the fellow dinners slowly resume the meal. It’s what is expected. The lovers can’t be a spectacle all night. Privacy for quiet communication is expected - but it’s not hard to hear how the two have become a topic between most of the onlookers. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you still plan on leaving me?” It’s only a whisper but it’s still a  cruel thing to ask, with all ears still tuned to them. Jamie already knows the answer, one Dani doesn’t give as she buttons her lips tighter. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It’s these moments that make Jamie feel blessed in a way that defies religion or rules. A life on the run from some inevitable creature lurking inside the night, never come to forwishen. All the scrapes, the touches, the stolen looks, these moments where Dani wants to scream - it all adds to be the complete picture inside a frame that neither of the two women could have planned to hang in their home. There was a time when Jamie feared never seeing Dani plucking the grey hair from her eyebrow in front of the bathroom mirror, now the grey outnumbers any other color. It’s beautiful. More than beautiful - it’s the only thing that makes any kind of sense. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“We might have to move again.” Dani sips her champagne, the carbonation has always tickled her throat no matter how many times they played this game. The pink never seeps from her face, but she smiles with it. It’s a warm color. It’s a color so very alive. Jamie wants to take this second and keep it inside her heart forever, stored with too many engagements and free food to count. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <span>“Poppins, be real. We didn’t move because of this last time. It was just a bigger space. Besides,” the waiter brings out two large slices of dark chocolate cake dotted with the word </span>
  <em>
    <span>congratulations </span>
  </em>
  <span>on the matching plates. “Free desert.” The two pick up twin forks and begin to eat. The cake is so rich and decadent even Dani can forgive Jamie’s trick - just this one time. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
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